In Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet”, Hamlet is searching through existential questions for the answers to life after his fathers tragic passing. Hamlet is searching for answers to life that every mortal has come to ask himself at some point and time: “What is mankind? Who am I? What is the meaning of life?” Many renown scholars have searched the world over, and found no answer for their wondering soul. This desolate place of bereavement is where we find Hamlet seemingly wallowing in self loathing.

Prince Hamlet is away at the university reaping the proverbial fields of knowledge when word comes of his father, king of Denmark’s, tragic death. The ghost of the king comes to Hamlet and tells him that his uncle Claudius was the murderer. Throughout the rest of the play, Hamlet searches for any mere shred of evidence to prove Claudius’ guilt. Hamlet is overly rational, pensive, at times even brooding; he often uses his extreme intellect to hide his emotions. His extreme logic makes him deter vengeance on Claudius until the final scene of the play where he murders Claudius. Killing Claudius not only ends the plot to this play, but evolves Hamlet’s character in proving he is a true existential.

In the early scenes, Hamlet acts, thinks, and processes like a well oiled machine of knowledge. He acts completely on his intellect, shutting out all emotion. For example, early in the play when Hamlet sees his father’s ghost, he is completely confused as to how to act. His intellect tells him he’s crazy, but his emotion fully believes it was his father he saw. As usual, Hamlet’s intellect wins the argument, and he retains doubts about the authenticity of the appearance. However, it does leave enough of a question that Hamlet devises a plan to reenact what the ghost told him.

Although Hamlet seems monotone, with a complete lack of emotion, Hamlet’s solitude starts to fall. Line by line, Hamlet’s shell starts to crack, emotion seeping out like an...

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...Study Guide for Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
GENERAL QUESTIONS
1. Pay attention to Shakespeare’s poetry with its imagery and figures of speech. Hamlet is written in poetic meter called blank verse. Define blank verse.
2. Make character studies: Horatio, Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes. Note character traits exhibited through a character’s own words, his action, others’ comments about him, etc.
3. Study Hamlet’s soliloquies carefully. Why does Shakespeare give Hamlet several soliloquies?
4. What are some major themes in Hamlet?
5. Compare Shakespeare’s written version of Hamlet with a film version like Zefferelli’s starring Mel Gibson.
6. As a young Christian, do you find anything appealing in Hamlet’s character and in the drama itself?
ACT ONE
7. What does Shakespeare accomplish through Act One, Scene One?
8. What are some early signs that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”?
9. How well does Claudius perform his royal duties—domestic and foreign policy?
10. What counsel and commands do Polonius and Laertes give Ophelia?
11. Describe the meeting between Hamlet and the ghost. What does the ghost reveal?
ACT TWO
12. Why does Shakespeare choose to have Ophelia relate the dramatic scene between herself and Hamlet rather than enact...

...Hamlet- Documented Essay
Marcellus’ quote, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (I, iv, 100), is the overall theme to Act I, of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but can also relate to the whole play. When he said it, it was only to mean that something suspicious was occurring and things didn’t seem right. However, it encompasses a lot more than Marcellus planned it to. During this time setting, different events were happening which caused major corruption within the country. Even though Denmark from the outside world appeared as a well functioning nation, inside, people were beginning to suffer from the disease of corruption. “The cause and effect relationship begins to quickly spread the disease throughout the characters” (unknown author). In Hamlet, we see that as the play progresses, three main characters become rotten with corruption; Claudius, Polonius and Hamlet. Claudius and Hamlet try to hide it at first, but it soon becomes too much and they eventually can‘t hold it in any longer. Polonius on the other hand, is open about his motives from the beginning and doesn’t see anything wrong with what he is doing.
All throughout Act I we see different relations to the quote, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” To start off, they have an immoral King running the country. Not only did he kill his own brother for the crown, but then married his brother’s wife to...

...HamletCharacterSketch
As the character, Hamlet, dominates the play, his unending mental burdens of choosing right from wrong, procrastinating through inaction, and his reliance on passion instead of reason, lends the tragedy its philosophical and spiritual dimensions. Shakespeare has elevated Hamlet above the simple figure of an avenger by proving he is an intellectual aristocrat. As a scholar and a thinker, Hamlet often reveals the high quality of his mind, pondering many weighty matters. He is also a perceptive student of drama and obviously well read in the classics.
Hamlet is portrayed as a noble and sensitive hero, a gentleman with “the glass of fashion and the mould of form" (Act III, Scene 1). His refinement is evidenced when he criticizes Claudius for his drunkenness. His sensitivity is seen in his horror over his mother's too rapid remarriage to the new king (Act 1 Scene II). His humility is seen in his love for Ophelia; he cares little for the fact that she is socially beneath him (Act III, Scene 1). And the respect other’s show for him is refined when Claudius states, “Madness in great ones must not unwatch'd go” (Act III, Scene 1).
Hamlet is, however, a tragic hero and victim of his own actions. When the play begins, Claudius has already violated the natural order of the kingdom, and Hamlet, although profoundly...

...HAMLET NOTES
* Themes:
* Certainty and Uncertainty
* Because of all the deceit and theme of appearance and reality, every character is uncertain of who they are and who others are really like. No one knows for sure and is certain who anyone is anymore.
* The audience is confused and not sure of the characterHamlet, Gertrude, Ophelia etc are anymore- there are so many attitudes and situations in the play that make these characters uncertain.
* Hamlet and his antic disposition- he pretended to be mad but towards the end it also seemed as if he actually went mad.
* It is uncertain that Gertrude is a queen blinded by Claudius and Hamlet or a person who doesn’t care about what happened to King Hamlet and just wants to stay in power. She can also be viewed as an incestuous woman. No one knows for sure anymore.
* Ophelia starts out as a distraught girl who is in love with hamlet but then goes crazy when she finds out he ‘doesn’t love her’. It is not certain who Ophelia really is as her character is ambiguous in general.
* Appearance and reality
* King Claudius appears to be good man but in reality he is the murderer of the King Hamlet. Deceitfully and criminally took the throne for himself.
* Polonius seems like a loving father but in reality he is a manipulative and deceitful man....

...Hamlet's strange behavior. While she was sowing in her room Hamlet barged in with dirty and messed up clothes, looking pitiful and insane. He then went up to Ophelia and held her wrist while stroking the side of her face, nodding three times and sighing "profoundly", then subsequently leaving her. It was surprising to involve Ophelia so directly in Hamlet's play at insanity, as I figured he would act around Claudius and Polonius instead. But by acting as a distraught lover, the source of his insanity is clearer and easily acceptable by Claudius, Gertrude, and Polonius than the "murder" of King Hamlet. It is difficult to tell if Hamlet truly is upset at being rejected, as they have not been in a scene together and as Hamlet seems to condemn women from his experiences from his mother. Ophelia has strictly obeyed her father, since she fears that Hamlet's actions were due to her denying him according to Polonius' orders.
4. What is Polonius' response to what Ophelia tells him? Where are they going?
When Ophelia tells Polonius of Hamlet's strange behavior Polonius responds by telling Ophelia that he will tell the King Claudius of their suspicions. Polonius then displays a guilty response, by saying that he had gone too far in forcing Ophelia to so abruptly deny Hamlet, and felt sorry for how his suspicions had played out.
2.2
1. Why have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern come to court? What is their...

...HAMLET
Settings
The main setting is Elsinore Castle in eastern Denmark, on the Oresund strait separating the Danish island of Sjælland (Zealand) from the Swedish province of Skåne and linking the Baltic Sea in the south to the Kattegat Strait in the north. Elsinore is a real town. Its Danish name is Helsingor. In Shakespeare's time, Elsinore was an extremely important port that fattened its coffers by charging a toll for ship passage through the Oresund strait.
Modern Elsinore, or Helsingor, is directly west of a Swedish city with a similar name, Helsingborg (or Hälsingborg). Within the city limits of Elsinore is Kronborg Castle, said to be the model for the Elsinore Castle of Shakespeare' play. Construction on the castle began in 1574, when Shakespeare was ten, and ended in 1585, when Shakespeare was twenty-one. It is believed that actors known to Shakespeare performed at Kronborg Castle. Other settings in Hamlet are a plain in Denmark, near Elsinore, and a churchyard near Elsinore. Offstage action in the play (referred to in dialogue) takes place on a ship bound for England from Denmark on which Hamlet replaces instructions to execute him (see the plot summary below) with instructions to execute his traitorous companions, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Hamlet -- Plot Synopsis
After the death of his beloved father King Hamlet, a grief-stricken Prince Hamlet returns home from his studies...

...In Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, there are many complex characters. Polonius, in his role as advisor to the king, adds much of the complexity and irony in the play. His character is a study in contradictions. An old, long winded, father of two, Polonius injects humor into the play, along with some confusion due to his uncanny wordiness. Throughout the play he takes it upon himself to find the center of Prince Hamlet's "insanity"; he hypothesizes that the prince suffers from the "unrequited love" of his daughter, Ophelia. Polonius sees himself as an expert at finding out the truth by using indirect ways. Compared to Hamlet, who is trying to find out the truth about his father's death in the same way, Polonius deserves the title of "tedious old fool." Many literature buffs believe that the character of Polonius is nothing but a rambler, spouting off insights that sound wise on the surface but are shallow upon further exploration. In truth, Polonius possesses great depth and insight into himself and the minds of the other characters. How else can one explain, the wisdom which he gives to his son? Shakespeare does this to prove that Polonius is not just a simple advisor with a tendency for self-centeredness, but an oddly complex, well-rounded character. "Do as I say not as I do," this phrase sums up the character of Polonius. His faults throughout the story lay in...

...﻿King Hamlet?
At the end of the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Fortinbras enter the scene with a bunch of dead bodies and one of them is Hamlet. Fortinbras claims that Hamlet would have been a great king, but the question is why would Fortinbras make a claim to this statement?
There cannot be a strong country without a strong leader, and a king is considered a symbol of his land. Claudius, despite the bloody way he gained power, was the king. Claudius did in fact keep Fortinbras from taking over his kingdom for some time, but his obsession for power ruined the kingdom. Despite being king he is also a murderer, liar, manipulator and a villain. He murdered his own brother, stole his nephew’s throne, and married his sister-in-law, which was considered incest at the time. One quality that Claudius is lacking is respect. Claudius can be blamed for the deaths of Hamlet, Laertes, Queen Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and also his own. If the public would have known any of the sinful acts that King Claudius had done to obtain the throne, the mere thought of viewing Claudius, as any kind of leader, let alone a king would have been impossible. It takes a man with qualities such as Hamlet to run a kingdom like Denmark.
So now the question is if Hamlet wasn’t killed, would he have made a good king or failed like Claudius? Hamlet’s qualities such as his intelligence,...